The record books for Greenland's climate were re-written on Tuesday, when the mercury hit 24.8°C (76.6°F) at Narsarsuaq, Greenland, on the southern coast. According to weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera, this is the hottest temperature on record in Greenland for May, and is just 0.7°C (1.3°F) below the hottest temperature ever measured in Greenland. The previous May record was 22.4°C (72.3°F) at Kangerlussuaq (called Sondre Stormfjord in Danish) on May 31, 1991. The 25.2°C at Narsarsuaq on June 22, 1957 is the only June temperature measured in Greenland warmer than yesterday's 24.8°C reading. Wunderground's extremes page shows that the all-time warmest temperature record for Greenland is 25.5°C (77.9°F) set on July 26, 1990. The exceptional warmth this week was caused by the combination of an intense ridge of high pressure and a local foehn wind, said the Danish Meteorological Institute. The unusual May heat has extended to Scotland, which had its hottest May temperature on record on May 25 at Achnagart: 29.3°C (85°F). Greenland's Narsarsuaq has seen a string of 3 consecutive days over 70°F this week--the 3rd, 7th, and 12th warmest days there since record keeping began in 1941. The ridge of high pressure responsible is expected to stay in place several more days, bringing additional 70° days over Southern Greenland. The warm May temperatures could be setting the stage for a big Greenland melt season this summer--the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) is predicting a 50 - 60% that the southern 2/3 of Greenland will experience above-average temperatures this summer. They forecast just a 10 - 15% chance of below-average temperatures.

Figure 1. Difference between the number of melt days in 2011 and the average number of melt days during the period 1979 - 2010. Large sections of the island experienced twenty more days with melting conditions than average. Image credit: Arctic Report Card

Why Greenland is importantIf the massive icecap on Greenland were to melt, global sea level would rise 7 meters (23 ft). Temperatures in Greenland are predicted to rise 3°C by 2100, to levels similar to those present during that warm period 120,000 years ago. During that period, roughly half of the Greenland ice sheet melted, increasing sea level by 2.2 - 3.4 meters (7.2 - 11.2 ft.) However, the 2007 IPCC report expects melting of the Greenland ice sheet to occur over about a 1,000 year period, delaying much of the expected sea level rise for many centuries. While Greenland's ice isn't going to be melting completely and catastrophically flooding low-lying areas of the earth in the next few decades (sea level is only rising about 3 mm per year or 1.2 inches per decade at present), the risk later this century needs to be taken seriously. Higher sea levels will cause increased erosion, salt water intrusion, and storm surge damage in coastal areas, in addition to a loss of barrier formations such as islands, sand bars, and reefs that would normally protect coastal zones from battering by waves and wind. Additionally, coastal zones are sites of incredible economic and agricultural activity, which would also be negatively affected by higher sea levels. Currently, melting ice from Greenland is thought to cause about 0.7 mm/year of global sea level rise, which is about 20 - 25% of the global total, according to an international research group led by the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, in an article published the latest issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 1 June 2012. In 2007, the IPCC estimated that Greenland ice melt was responsible for only 10 - 15% of the total global sea level rise. Ice loss in Greenland is accelerating, and if current ice loss trends continue for the next ten years, Greenland's contribution to sea level rise will double to 1.4 mm/yr by 2022. The increased ice loss in Greenland is being driven by a combination of warmer air temperatures, warmer ocean temperatures, and loss of Arctic sea ice. Ocean temperatures surrounding Southern Greenland have increased by 1 - 2°C since 1990 (figure at right.)Figure 2. Monthly unsmoothed values of the total mass (in gigatons, Gt), of the Greenland ice sheet from the GRACE satellites. On the horizontal axis, each year begins on 1 January. Each small + symbol is a monthly value. Between 2003 - 2009, Greenland lost an average of 250 gigatons of ice per year. In 2011, the loss was 70% greater than that. Image credit: Arctic Report Card

Update on the 2011 Greenland melt seasonAccording to the 2011 Arctic Report Card, it was another very warm year in Greenland in 2011, which led to substantial melting of the ice. Here are some of the highlights from the report:

1) The area and duration of melting at the surface of the Greenland ice sheet in summer 2011 were the third highest since 1979.

2) Increased surface melting and below average summer snowfall in recent years has made the icecap steadily darker. In 2011, the icecap had the lowest reflectivity (albedo) of any year since satellite measurements of reflectivity began in 2000.

3) The area of glaciers that empty into the sea continued to decrease, though at less than half the rate of the previous 10 years.

4) Total ice sheet mass loss in 2011 was 70% larger than the 2003 - 2009 average annual loss rate of -250 gigatons per year. According to satellite gravity data obtained since 2002, ice sheet mass loss is accelerating.

SATELLITE PICTURES AND REPORTS FROM NOAA BUOY 41002 INDICATE THATTHE LOW PRESSURE AREA...CENTERED ABOUT 300 MILES EAST OF CHARLESTONSOUTH CAROLINA...IS BECOMING BETTER DEFINED AND HAS DEVELOPEDTHUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY NEAR THE CENTER. IF CURRENT TRENDSCONTINUE...ADVISORIES COULD BE INITIATED LATER TONIGHT. THIS SYSTEMHAS A HIGH CHANCE...NEAR 100 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A SUBTROPICAL ORTROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. LITTLE MOTION ISEXPECTED TONIGHT...BUT A WEST-SOUTHWESTWARD OR SOUTHWESTWARD MOTIONSHOULD BEGIN TOMORROW AND CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY. COASTALINTERESTS FROM THE CAROLINAS SOUTHWARD THROUGH NORTHEASTERN FLORIDASHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM OVER THE MEMORIAL DAYWEEKEND. IN ADDITION...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLOODING WILLCONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST TONIGHT OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL CUBA ANDTHE CENTRAL BAHAMAS. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THISSYSTEM...PLEASE SEE HIGH SEAS FORECASTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONALWEATHER SERVICE...AND PRODUCTS FROM YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

ELSEWHERE...TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THENEXT 48 HOURS.Deja Vu all over again ?

Quoting ncstorm:I do believe LRandyB blog is called the "LRandyB Tropical Weather Discussion" while Jeff Masters calls his Blog "Dr. Jeff Masters Wunderblog"..seems randy's blog is dedicated to tropical weather discussion since we are always getting reminded the name of Dr. Masters blog..hence we do have a tropical weather blog on this site

/nod. If it was updated on a daily basis, it would probably be a better candidate for linking from the tropical weather page.

Quoting Neapolitan:I'm sorry, but you seem to be mistaken. See, this is titled "Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog". As you can see, there's nothing in that title about "tropical". Now, the salient part of that title is "Jeff Masters'". The apostrophe denotes ownership and authorship. That means he--Dr. Jeff Masters--is free to write about whatever he pleases, just as you (and others) are free to not read what he writes. But purely out of politeness, the right thing to do would be to not come into someone's house as a guest and start demanding they don't talk about truths that you'd rather not hear...

Anyway, speaking of ice, here's a chart (from here) showing the current condition of ice in the Arctic Sea. In short: it's going away.

Not at all, you really should read what i wrote, you seem to have specifically omitted it from your quote.

Like i said, the man can write about whatever he wants on his blog, i'm just questioning why a blog with no relevance to the subject is linked on the tropical page.

Indeed, i specifically asked why his blog was not linked on the climate change page and a different, more tropical-centric blog linked on the tropical page.

I never questioned what 'truths' the man be allowed to write about, he can blog birtherism, little green men or anthropogenic global warming, they all rank about the same to me, which has nothing to do with tropical weather systems.

I mean even the warning on the comments state, "When using Dr. Masters' blog, please refrain from posting material not relevant to the discussion of tropical weather", which shows the direct link they consider it to have.

I do believe LRandyB blog is called the "LRandyB Tropical Weather Discussion" while Jeff Masters calls his Blog "Dr. Jeff Masters Wunderblog"..seems randy's blog is dedicated to tropical weather discussion since we are always getting reminded the name of Dr. Masters blog..hence we do have a tropical weather blog on this site

SATELLITE PICTURES AND REPORTS FROM NOAA BUOY 41002 INDICATE THATTHE LOW PRESSURE AREA...CENTERED ABOUT 300 MILES EAST OF CHARLESTONSOUTH CAROLINA...IS BECOMING BETTER DEFINED AND HAS DEVELOPEDTHUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY NEAR THE CENTER. IF CURRENT TRENDSCONTINUE...ADVISORIES COULD BE INITIATED LATER TONIGHT. THIS SYSTEMHAS A HIGH CHANCE...NEAR 100 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A SUBTROPICAL ORTROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. LITTLE MOTION ISEXPECTED TONIGHT...BUT A WEST-SOUTHWESTWARD OR SOUTHWESTWARD MOTIONSHOULD BEGIN TOMORROW AND CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY. COASTALINTERESTS FROM THE CAROLINAS SOUTHWARD THROUGH NORTHEASTERN FLORIDASHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM OVER THE MEMORIAL DAYWEEKEND. IN ADDITION...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLOODING WILLCONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST TONIGHT OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL CUBA ANDTHE CENTRAL BAHAMAS. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THISSYSTEM...PLEASE SEE HIGH SEAS FORECASTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONALWEATHER SERVICE...AND PRODUCTS FROM YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

ELSEWHERE...TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THENEXT 48 HOURS.Deja Vu all over again ?

Yeah, he can post what he wants. I have no problem with that, he can write about kittens if that what he wants to write about; but i see no reason why completely unrelated topics should be linked to the tropical weather page.

Like kitten...

Or Alarmism...

Just the way i feel about it.

Climate change is totally related to tropical weather.

Kittens are not.

Alarmism - is that the love of red things attached to walls? Or something to do with clocks? Certainly you don't disapprove of people telling us about a danger headed our way....

should have a good flare up of thunderstorms over the eastern gulf today. The ULL is just off the Western Yucatan, and the surface low is just onshore the Eastern Yucatan. They both are moving in tandem to the north..24 hours..48 hours..This has the gulf low looking quite healthy.

Quoting PlazaRed:Thank you for this post, as its something that has a bit more to it than meets the eye.Where I work in the countryside there were/was a plantation of about 15,000 olive trees ranging from 60 to about 200 years old.The Government brought out a grant system to replace them with newer more productive varieties.2 years ago all the 15,000 trees were cut down and then cut up into logs and sold off for firewood to a large local city, they were taken away by trucks.The newly planted olive trees are not in a good condition due to the drought and will need extensive irrigation to survive, this will have to be supplied by tractor bowser's from distant allready stressed water sources.The old trees did not need water as they were resistant to drought.Meanwhile the new plantation is being rigorously ploughed to keep down weeds, which causes erosion,there are dust storms and land slumps.In about 8 years if the new trees survive they will start to produce olives, which few people now seem to want to buy due to oversupply and the depression etc.This plantation is only one of thousands which are suffering the same fate in my area.Replanting trees is not always a good idea. Sometimes best leave the old ones alone!

The guy is talking about adding trees not the actual term replanting trees, I don't think he said anything about cutting trees down and replanting, READ

Quoting Minnemike:what's yours? i simply corrected your characterized causation of the foam. yeah, big algae blooms happen. how does that correlate with the event? i don't see a correlation. we don't know that the dead algae welled up at this locality has anything to do with normal or abnormal blooms. we do know that the occurrence is regular, as is the presence of algae at great quantities in lower ocean waters near shores.

Do you pay any attention to this blog before you post? There is a 50000 square mile bloom in the north Atlantic blowing toward the British Isles. Right now it is expanding and is very close to their shores. At some point it will die and then be whipped up by the ocean into sea foam.I've been posting about this for 2 weeks, since the bloom became notable at -34, 47

Surprised there has been no mention regarding the preliminary impacts of Tropical Storm Beryl on the drought situation in the Southeast US. Based on the first analysis done by the US Drought Monitor since Beryl making landfall (keep in mind the data cut off for analysis was Tuesday at 7 AM EST), there are no longer any areas under the worst drought level, exceptional drought conditions, in Florida.

Last Week Before Beryl Landfall:

This Week After Beryl Landfall: (Keep in mind cutoff on data occurred on Tuesday at 7 AM EST. Much more rain has fallen since that time over the Southeast.)

Next Thursday, we will get a new analysis which will account for all the rainfall received from Tropical Storm Beryl. We will then know the full extent of the drought relief Beryl brought to the drought-stricken Southeast US.

No, it's not that simple. For one, even where trees are protected, they are being killed by advancing deserts and illegal logging. And hardly any trees, world wide, are protected. Second, even if large trees lower carbon dioxide, they will eventually be killed by acid rain. The rapid acidification of the ocean will kill all our food fish. There's only one solution to carbon pollution. Quit burning fossil fuels.LargoFl, if we continue to live our present lifestyle, your kids may live on not much at all. Do you really want to take that gamble.

what's yours? i simply corrected your characterized causation of the foam. yeah, big algae blooms happen. how does that correlate with the event? i don't see a correlation. we don't know that the dead algae welled up at this locality has anything to do with normal or abnormal blooms. we do know that the occurrence is regular, as is the presence of algae at great quantities in lower ocean waters near shores.

Quoting LargoFl: yes this is why people all over the world, not just the USA have to replant tree's..it is that simple if everyone..i mean everyone did this..but you and i know..they wont

No, it's not that simple. For one, even where trees are protected, they are being killed by advancing deserts and illegal logging. And hardly any trees, world wide, are protected. Second, even if large trees lower carbon dioxide, they will eventually be killed by acid rain. The rapid acidification of the ocean will kill all our food fish. There's only one solution to carbon pollution. Quit burning fossil fuels.LargoFl, if we continue to live our present lifestyle, your kids may live on not much at all. Do you really want to take that gamble.

Quoting Caner:Whoops, i tried to go to the Tropical Weather blog and accidentally ended up in the Global Alarmists blog

I'm sorry, but you seem to be mistaken. See, this is titled "Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog". As you can see, there's nothing in that title about "tropical". Now, the salient part of that title is "Jeff Masters'". The apostrophe denotes ownership and authorship. That means he--Dr. Jeff Masters--is free to write about whatever he pleases, just as you (and others) are free to not read what he writes. But purely out of politeness, the right thing to do would be to not come into someone's house as a guest and start demanding they don't talk about truths that you'd rather not hear...

Anyway, speaking of ice, here's a chart (from here) showing the current condition of ice in the Arctic Sea. In short: it's going away.

Quoting LargoFl:yes this is why people all over the world, not just the USA have to replant tree's..it is that simple if everyone..i mean everyone did this..but you and i know..they wont

Thank you for this post, as its something that has a bit more to it than meets the eye.Where I work in the countryside there were/was a plantation of about 15,000 olive trees ranging from 60 to about 200 years old.The Government brought out a grant system to replace them with newer more productive varieties.2 years ago all the 15,000 trees were cut down and then cut up into logs and sold off for firewood to a large local city, they were taken away by trucks.The newly planted olive trees are not in a good condition due to the drought and will need extensive irrigation to survive, this will have to be supplied by tractor bowser's from distant allready stressed water sources.The old trees did not need water as they were resistant to drought.Meanwhile the new plantation is being rigorously ploughed to keep down weeds, which causes erosion,there are dust storms and land slumps.In about 8 years if the new trees survive they will start to produce olives, which few people now seem to want to buy due to oversupply and the depression etc.This plantation is only one of thousands which are suffering the same fate in my area.Replanting trees is not always a good idea. Sometimes best leave the old ones alone!

Quoting LargoFl:tree's and global warming..great informative site here..and there are tons of other sites as well that say the same thing..plant a tree............Link

Planting trees is a great thing. If you're planting them in tropic/temperate zones. Planting trees at higher elevations decreased albedo and adds to global warming.

Planting trees will help. Trees in hot climates help cool and that cuts down of AC/electricity usage. But we can't plant our way out of this problem.

To get a fuller picture, Vivek Arora of Environment Canada and the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and Alvaro Montenegro of St Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, used a computer model to estimate the overall effect of reforesting.

They used what they admit are "somewhat extreme" scenarios in which half or all of the world's croplands have been converted to forests by 2060. Foresting all or half the world's cropland reduced global temperatures in 2100 by 0.45 °C and 0.25 °C respectively.

Arora reckons that no more than 10 to 15 per cent of existing cropland is likely to be forested, so the effects will be even smaller. "The overall temperature benefits of any realistic afforestation efforts are expected to be marginal," he says.